Glossary
llms.txt
Last reviewed: 2026-05-12
llms.txt is a proposed convention for a site-root markdown file summarising what AI crawlers should read. It complements robots.txt: robots.txt grants or denies access, llms.txt prioritises content.
Frequently asked
- What is llms.txt?
- llms.txt is a proposed convention for a markdown file at a site's root that summarises the site's most important pages for AI crawlers in a compact, parseable format.
- How is llms.txt different from robots.txt?
- robots.txt controls crawler access; llms.txt suggests what crawlers should focus on. Robots.txt is a directive, llms.txt is a hint.
- Do LLMs actually read llms.txt?
- Adoption is uneven and informal. The file is cheap to maintain and signals editorial intent; whether a given engine acts on it is empirical.